Temple

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by cincyguy13

Aside from missing out on the greatest player of our generation, Adam kunkle, I don’t think we are that far away. We still need a couple players, curious to see who we can land this spring. We will get some players, just a matter of who

Oh well we can dream about that F4 run with the Kunk on our squad. If only...,...........

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by Bcatfollower

If Harvey stays, he will be a star next year. Brannen just needs to tell him he is the guy.

His improvement has come a long way. Some guys just know how to play BB...some guys have to think it through. It’s natural for him. I’m starting to think he could be a real go to guy. I was very glad to see his aggression didn’t fall off after the layoff. If he can figure out how to stay on the court for 30 minutes he will come up with some 20 pt games.

[Chance2017]

Originally Posted by waterhead

I think the comments about Mason are mostly about looking solid on the floor at this level compared to pre season expectations. I think most expected him to take 2-3 years to be able to get on the floor other than spot minutes. There was so much ado about his recruit ranking and being nothing more than a lost roster spot to lock up Gabe.

So yes... I like what I see so far in a frosh season woefully short on practice time.

I don’t know how anyone can complain about Mason Madsen so far. He has great body language. Good shooting stroke. He’s a confident player. Everything you want in a 9-10th man. The notion we wasted a scholly on him so lazy. There are only so many minutes to go around and you need a solid guy in that role. Mason looks solid. He’s everything I wanted from Trevor Moore but Trevor was mentally tough enough. Mason laughing at the temple bench is a confidence you need at this level.

[Chance2017]

Originally Posted by skyblade

I missed the game live, just finished watching the replay. My review:

First, my favorite complaint. In the 1st half +/-, Eason was +5, Diarra was +6, Vogt was -5. Guess who didn't enter the game in the second half? Maybe Diarra is on a minutes limit, but there is a theme of Diarra coming in, outplaying Vogt and then getting benched for the 2nd half. Based on my +/- (which attributed FT's to the guy who was on the floor when the foul was committed) Vogt finished -6 (he should have been +0 in the 2nd but Keith tech gave up free FT's), Eason +3 and Diarra +6. Vogt did play well on defense in the 2nd half, but that ties into my second point.

I'm with Justin in that Temple should be looking to say goodbye to McKie. I don't know if it's bad coaching or bad execution, but Temple's coaching seems to do them no favors. First the attacking the interior when Vogt is in the game, everyone knows you have to put Vogt in the pick-and-roll, Temple did that some in the first half (and got fouls on Vogt), then just tried to take him straight up in the 2nd. Combine that with a bad tech from McKie (what was he even complaining about) and the late game TO's and McKie can't be a popular guy in Temple right now.

Harvey played really well in the first and solid in the 2nd. Glad he's back and seems to be healthy. Keith seems to be a more consistent player post Covid-break. Playing defense and rebounding throughout the whole game. Saunders started and played a total pf 4 minutes, not sure what that was about. A message to MAW, a message to Saunders? Saunders hasn't been good, so I don't mind the 4 minutes, but the starting is a bit weird.

Seems like people thought Mason played well. I didn't really think so. He made a few nice plays in the 2nd half, but he had early mistakes in the first half and it was his man (Barry) who went off in the 2nd and kept temple in the game. At best I'd say he was a break-even.

DD rebounds and passes well, but needs to take the next step to be a really good PG. He likes to try to throw over the defense and gave up a couple easy TO's. 4 TO's on the night is bad. He's also too quick to shoot the step back 3 at times, that's a shot he can get almost any time, try to get a better shot unless it's late in the shot-clock.

We still need to reduce the TO's and beating Temple by 2 isn't particularly impressive (better than losing to them though). It seems like quite a few players are starting to look good and play well most games (DD, Keith, Davenport and Harvey). If all 4 of them could play well every game, we might be onto something. Still major concerns around center and the TO's. Back-ups needs some work to (I still think Banks is a better option than Saunders and pretty comparable to Mason).

I hope it was COVID stipulations because I was not very happy with the lack of Diarra in the 2nd half.

[skyblade]

Originally Posted by Chance2017

I don’t know how anyone can complain about Mason Madsen so far. He has great body language. Good shooting stroke. He’s a confident player. Everything you want in a 9-10th man. The notion we wasted a scholly on him so lazy. There are only so many minutes to go around and you need a solid guy in that role. Mason looks solid. He’s everything I wanted from Trevor Moore but Trevor was mentally tough enough. Mason laughing at the temple bench is a confidence you need at this level.

It's depends on him improving. 9/10th man as a freshman is fine, but if he is 9/10th man as a Junior it is a wasted scholarship. Rob Banks looks like a good 9/10th man too - better defense/rebounding than Mason, but a lot less on the offensive end - but nobodies clamoring to give him a scholarship (though I wouldn't be opposed to it if we happen to have one left over).

As I've said in the past, my issue isn't so much with them, as the over-recruitment of guards (and lack of bigs). There are only so many minutes to go around and we recruited more guys than we need at the 1-3. Somebodies going to be on the bench and that somebody is probably going to be one of the low rated recruits (Mikey or Mason).

[skyblade]

Originally Posted by Chance2017

I hope it was COVID stipulations because I was not very happy with the lack of Diarra in the 2nd half.

I suspect it wasn't Covid, Diarra was allowed to basically play 8 straight minutes (he had an ~30 second break where Vogt came in and committed a foul) in the first. If he's allowed to play 8 straight minutes in the first (and didn't seem worn out), I doubt he wasn't allowed to play the 2nd.

It's been a theme since Brannen started coaching here. There have been a number of games now where Diarra outplays Vogt in the first half when Vogt gets in foul trouble, then Diarra sits on the bench the rest of the game. Brannen simply does not give Diarra the opportunities or slack that he gave Rap or gives Vogt.

Vogt had a relatively good game for him, but he still wasn't that good and was a net negative if you look at +/- (though that's a debated stat to use). Diarra helped us build a lead in the first half (came in with at about 9 minute mark with us 1, left at half with us up 6).

Diarra seems energetic and involved on the bench. But I have to wonder if Diarra will get frustrated at some point.

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by skyblade

It's depends on him improving. 9/10th man as a freshman is fine, but if he is 9/10th man as a Junior it is a wasted scholarship. Rob Banks looks like a good 9/10th man too - better defense/rebounding than Mason, but a lot less on the offensive end - but nobodies clamoring to give him a scholarship (though I wouldn't be opposed to it if we happen to have one left over).

As I've said in the past, my issue isn't so much with them, as the over-recruitment of guards (and lack of bigs). There are only so many minutes to go around and we recruited more guys than we need at the 1-3. Somebodies going to be on the bench and that somebody is probably going to be one of the low rated recruits (Mikey or Mason).

I won’t speak to the quality of bigs but the quantity Brannen had to start the year was more than enough. Vogt, Dou, Lakhin, Rap, Eason, Davenport. All were 4s or 5s coming in.

Now that Davenport can shoot we can play him at the 3...but that was a bit unexpected.

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by skyblade

I suspect it wasn't Covid, Diarra was allowed to basically play 8 straight minutes (he had an ~30 second break where Vogt came in and committed a foul) in the first. If he's allowed to play 8 straight minutes in the first (and didn't seem worn out), I doubt he wasn't allowed to play the 2nd.

It's been a theme since Brannen started coaching here. There have been a number of games now where Diarra outplays Vogt in the first half when Vogt gets in foul trouble, then Diarra sits on the bench the rest of the game. Brannen simply does not give Diarra the opportunities or slack that he gave Rap or gives Vogt.

Vogt had a relatively good game for him, but he still wasn't that good and was a net negative if you look at +/- (though that's a debated stat to use). Diarra helped us build a lead in the first half (came in with at about 9 minute mark with us 1, left at half with us up 6).

Diarra seems energetic and involved on the bench. But I have to wonder if Diarra will get frustrated at some point.

Harvey outplays many guys too. But he’s on a leash as well. That leash could be for about 20 different reasons and same for Diara.

I often wonder just as I did with Cronin why it seems some guys are in the doghouse. That may not even be the right word. But something is holding them back. Harvey could be a 30 minute guy at this point every night but he hasn’t played more than about 25 in any game.

There is a reason for that whether we know it or not.

[Chance2017]

Originally Posted by skyblade

It's depends on him improving. 9/10th man as a freshman is fine, but if he is 9/10th man as a Junior it is a wasted scholarship. Rob Banks looks like a good 9/10th man too - better defense/rebounding than Mason, but a lot less on the offensive end - but nobodies clamoring to give him a scholarship (though I wouldn't be opposed to it if we happen to have one left over).

As I've said in the past, my issue isn't so much with them, as the over-recruitment of guards (and lack of bigs). There are only so many minutes to go around and we recruited more guys than we need at the 1-3. Somebodies going to be on the bench and that somebody is probably going to be one of the low rated recruits (Mikey or Mason).

Why can’t you be a role player in your junior and senior year? We haven’t shown an ability to land 3-4 4 stars a class. What is wrong with filling the role on the team with mason. That’s not a wasted scholarship. If he sucks I agree. I think he could potentially thrive in the role though. The 2010-2011 bearcats had multiple seniors who were bench players with experience.

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by skyblade

I suspect it wasn't Covid, Diarra was allowed to basically play 8 straight minutes (he had an ~30 second break where Vogt came in and committed a foul) in the first. If he's allowed to play 8 straight minutes in the first (and didn't seem worn out), I doubt he wasn't allowed to play the 2nd.

It's been a theme since Brannen started coaching here. There have been a number of games now where Diarra outplays Vogt in the first half when Vogt gets in foul trouble, then Diarra sits on the bench the rest of the game. Brannen simply does not give Diarra the opportunities or slack that he gave Rap or gives Vogt.

Vogt had a relatively good game for him, but he still wasn't that good and was a net negative if you look at +/- (though that's a debated stat to use). Diarra helped us build a lead in the first half (came in with at about 9 minute mark with us 1, left at half with us up 6).

Diarra seems energetic and involved on the bench. But I have to wonder if Diarra will get frustrated at some point.

I like actual plus minus numbers. For one game you have to look at who was on the floor but over time I think it’s one of the best stats out there.